Martin County Sportsmen's Association

NEWSLETTER JUNE 2010

DEAR FELLOW MCSA MEMBERS,

This is the June 2010 issue of your newsletter. Please send us your thoughts and ideas for this quarterly publication. Our E-mail addresses are on the website at www.mcsa.cc , call us or stop in the office. We really want to hear from you. If you have any particular skills or talents and want to help your Club, please let us know. This is a private club by and for the Members. We all want to work together to make MCSA safer and better.

The next picnic and swap meet will start at 11:00 on July 24^TH. The general membership meeting will start on that day at 10:00 A.M. on Range 5. Please attend this MCSA Club meeting…meet your Board, share your ideas, volunteer to help, get involved. During the picnic our NRA Instructors will conduct rifle shooting on Range 4 for young people. They will use MCSA rifles and ammo…bring your children. Guests are always welcome at the MCSA picnic. Write it down…7/24/10 at 10:00 A.M. See you there!

Gate code is 2011. Please check in with the Range Officer on duty after you sign in. Let him know what Range # you are going to. We need to keep track of everyone in case of an emergency.

Jeff Bootz, Gunsmith and MCSA Member, is now at the Range from 8-5 on Thursdays.

We are, of course, affiliated with the NRA. We also belong to the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP), Florida Shooting Sports Association, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance, and the National Shooting Sports Foundation. We receive huge benefits from the NRA…range help, group insurance, training programs…to name a few. We also benefit from our other affiliations as well…they help us keep up to date on shooting industry happenings as well as supporting our rights and the shooting sports.

MCSA is still one of the very few places in Southeastern Florida that our Members can shoot in a safe, uncrowded, unhurried environment at a reasonable price. We now have over 700 Members. Our Club finances are sound…we do not need additional Members to raise money. Your Board is studying this matter to determine if we should limit or stop selling new Memberships. We do not want to get over-crowded or jeopardize safety. We have 36 years of operation without an accident. Safety first is what we are all about. If you have friends that you are thinking about sponsoring to join MCSA, perhaps you should do it soon.

Our New Member Orientation takes about 2 hours and is conducted on the 2^nd and 4^th Sundays of the month at 9:00 A.M. After our classroom safety and rule discussion, we give new applicants a tour of the entire facility and explain each of the 5 Ranges. There is then a written test. We then have them shoot a handgun and/or a rifle to demonstrate their knowledge, skill and attitude. At least 3 of our NRA Certified Chief Range Safety Officers or Instructors are involved in each orientation. All 3 of these have to agree that an applicant is qualified to be a Probationary member. If an applicant is not qualified due to safety concerns, they are offered the opportunity to take an NRA Course from us or we will refund their money and they can not be a Member. This is a private club…membership is a privilege not a right. About 40% of the new applicants to MCSA DO NOT pass our orientation due to safety concerns. Most have taken a course and then have become Members. Only a few have asked for a refund. No shortcuts to safety.

Your MCSA Board recently voted 6-0 to eliminate any Range rental or training by outsiders. As a public service and a small source of revenue, MCSA had allowed qualified outside instructors/trainers to use the Range for a fee. Safety issues and disruption of Range operations for our Members became issues so a decision was made to stop this practice. MCSA sponsored NRA Certified Instructors are now the only professional training allowed.

MCSA now sponsors NRA courses in Pistol, Rifle, Shotgun, Home Firearm Safety, Personal Protection in the Home and Personal Protection Outside the Home. All courses are conducted by NRA Certified Instructors and an NRA certificate is awarded after successful completion of a course. Courses are offered for Juniors ages 10-15 as well as adults. All courses have 2 Instructors and 4 students…plenty of one on one individual attention. After the courses, private lessons are offered as well to help you polish your knowledge and skills. All prices are less than the normal retail as a service and benefit for our Members. Courses are offered to all our Members and their extended families.

MCSA was recently awarded a Gold Medal designation by NRA for its dedication to safety and training. Our NRA training facility allows us to conduct small classes with excellent materials and visual aids. Range # 5 is a great new addition. Targets can be set up from 3’ to 21’ and multiple targets can also be used. Check it out! A full list of NRA Courses with dates can be found on the bulletin boards and on the web. Stop in the office to sign up or call. Member Becky Johnson has just received her NRA Certified Range Officer designation and has joined our training department to help us with scheduling, etc.

The steel shoot for Members is the 3^rd Saturday of the month. Please come at 8:00 A.M. and help the set-up on Range #2. Use any handgun but no magnum calibers, please. Shoot from LOW READY or a strong side holster. Steel plates, poppers, Texas star…all are fun to shoot at. Come on down…FUN!

Antonio is doing a good job of keeping the Range neat and clean. All the shooting positions are now under cover out of the sun and rain. We were shooting yesterday on Range #3 in a heavy downpour. Steel targets do not mind getting wet.

Individual Comments:

Bob Vassallo…April 24^th picnic was a huge success. Largest turnout yet. Membership meeting too had lots of people. MCSA is getting lots of compliments for the activities and appearance. Range 5 has become very popular. Range 4 still needs some work on the baffles due to errant rounds. Shooters have to be more aware of where their rounds are going. See you at the next meeting.

Peter McKenna…Construction at the Range is winding down. New roof extension on Range #2 and new shooting line benches are a real improvement. Range #4 was re-surveyed and we now have 8 excellent, accurate shooting positions. New target stands are at 25, 50 and 100 yards. All 5 Ranges now have a fixed firing line. You can adjust the target distances but all firing is done from a fixed firing line.

NRA Training Program is a real success. Thank you all for your patience during all the construction during the past year.

Jim Dunn…To the entire Membership…this is not going to be a warm and fuzzy message. In the last 3 weeks we have had too many incidents of stupidity on the Ranges. To cite a few examples, someone shot a cluster of rounds through the gate on Range #4(through steel plate) and also rounds went through the overhead eyebrows/baffles. Another example was a Member behind the yellow line on Range #3 with a loaded gun while people in front of him were shooting. Are you trying to lose this Club? If need be, I will ask the Board to allocate the funds to Double the number of Range Officers. This will increase the dues. The choice is yours…either smarten up on the Ranges or face a sizeable increase in dues. Thank you.

Bill Cole…Bank balances total $269,346.83. Strong reserves. All systems operating well. NRA Training Program is operating at no cost to MCSA…Program is self sustaining from fees charged. Thank you all for your help and suggestions…keep them coming.

Dave Lester…Membership now over 700. Studying a cap on new Members.

Dave Steward…Great picnic and Member Meeting…most people ever. STAY SAFE. Thank you.

Gary Shore…Time to freshen up the website. Click on my name on the Officers page on the website and send me your ideas. What do you want, what will make it better for you? Thank you. www.mcsa.cc

Glen Rubin…Made a presentation about NRA to the Martin County Republican Executive Committee. Received a good deal of positive feedback.

Most of the damage to our safety equipment and many of the safety infractions are done by guests who are not properly supervised by their sponsoring MCSA Member. Due to this continuing issue, we are forced to institute a new guest policy. Only one day per week will be guest day and that is Saturdays.

Beginning July 1, 2010, Members may bring only 1 guest at a time on guest day which will be only on Saturdays from 8:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. There will be a $10.00 charge for every guest. The Member and guest will be briefed and helped by one of our NRA Certified Instructors. The 5 guest per year rule still applies and will be strictly enforced. This new guest day will be in effect until further notice.